Kentucky’s Mouhamed Dioubate out vs. Loyola. Brandon Garrison moved to the bench
Kentucky forward Mouhamed Dioubate will not play in the Wildcats’ game against Loyola (Maryland) on Friday night in Rupp Arena.
Dioubate, a 6-foot-7 junior in his first season with the Cats, sustained an ankle injury toward the end of UK’s 83-66 loss to Michigan State in the Champions Classic in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. Coach Mark Pope said Thursday that Dioubate would likely not practice with the team later that afternoon and hinted that he could miss the Loyola game.
Pope confirmed on his pregame radio show Friday that Dioubate would be out.
The UK coach also shook up his starting lineup, with Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler and Otega Oweh joined by sophomore guard Kam Williams and freshman center Malachi Moreno in the first five. Brandon Garrison, who had started the first five games of the season at the 5 spot, was moved to a reserve role for this one.
Dioubate, who played his first two seasons at Alabama, had started all five games for the Wildcats so far. He’s averaging 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in 20.4 minutes per game for Kentucky, which has rolled to blowout victories over all three of its mid-major opponents this season while suffering losses to Louisville and Michigan State in its first two marquee games.
The absence of Dioubate adds to UK’s injury woes.
Jaland Lowe, the team’s expected starting point guard, remains out with a shoulder injury. He’s played in just two games so far this season, and there is no timetable for his return to the court after reinjuring his shoulder last week.
Kentucky is also without projected NBA lottery pick Jayden Quaintance, who had surgery to repair a torn ACL in March and is still recovering from that injury. There is also no timetable for his return, and he still hasn’t been cleared for full contact in the Wildcats’ practices.
UK is also planning to redshirt junior center Reece Potter, while Pope is leaving the door open for freshman forward Braydon Hawthorne to sit out this season as a redshirt. That left the Cats with just nine scholarship-level players for the game against Loyola on Friday night.
Kentucky’s next game will be against Tennessee Tech on Wednesday in Rupp Arena.
This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM.
